In the Author Spotlight & Contest

DIANNE DUVALL

CONTEST: Dianne will give away a signed copy of Darkness Dawns to one commenter. International commenters are fine too. She'll be using www.random.org to choose the winner at the end of my week. To get in on the contest just answer this simple question in comments: If you could possess any special gift or ability (telepathy, teleportation, healing with your hands, etc.), which one would you want? Good luck!






AL: Hi Dianne! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Dianne: Hi Ann! Thanks for having me! It’s great to be here!

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Dianne: Well, when I’m not writing, I work in the independent film industry. Right now I’m working post-production on a horror feature film, adding special effects and cutting a trailer. On the home front, I’ve been doing some gardening, one of my favorite pastimes, and getting a late start on planting a vegetable garden.

AL: Would you like to tell us about a current or upcoming release?

Dianne: I would love to. Thanks. My debut novel Darkness Dawns was released in February 2011. The first book in my Immortal Guardian paranormal romance series, it was deemed a Top Pick by The Romance Reviews and a Best Book by Long and Short Reviews. In it, Music Theory Professor Sarah Bingham wants nothing more than to relax after a long, stressful spring semester. Instead, when insomnia drives her to spend a little time in her garden at dawn, she finds a wounded man staked to the ground, being tortured by two others. Little does she know when she rescues him that Roland Warbrook is far more than a man. Nearly a millennium old, he is an immortal who has acquired a new formidable foe amongst the vampires he hunts, a foe who has raised an army to defeat him and to destroy the rest of the Immortal Guardians. When Sarah thwarts the vampires by saving Roland, she too becomes targeted by the army and is thrust to the forefront of the conflict, aiding the immortals in their quest to defeat the vampires and losing her heart to the dark enigmatic warrior intent on protecting her.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Dianne: I just finished the edits for Night Reigns, the second book in the series, which revolves around Marcus Grayden, an immortal who recently lost a woman he loved for eight centuries. Cocky on the outside, grieving on the inside, he skates the edge and takes far too many risks. When Marcus’s increasingly erratic behavior draws unwanted concern from his immortal brethren, the leader of the Immortal Guardians attempts to divert him from this destructive path by assigning Marcus a new Second (human assistant) . . . one who proves to be immensely distracting and turns his world upside down.

I’m also currently delving into the third book in the series, but haven’t yet given it a title.

AL: What was the defining moment when you realized you wanted to be a writer?

Dianne: The first inkling came when I wrote a teen historical romance when I was thirteen or so. But I would say the defining moment came when I majored in journalism in college. Conducting interviews and writing articles just wasn’t making me happy the way I had hoped it would and led me to rethink my chosen course. I loved reading romance novels and had so many ideas for my own swirling around in my head that I just felt I had to follow that path instead, gave it a try and am so thrilled that I did.

AL: When you write do you do a detailed outline before you get started or do you have the idea then just 'fly by the seat of your pants'? :-)

Dianne: I fly by the seat of my pants. I tried the outline route once and spent days constructing a very detailed outline for my first novel. But, once I began writing, the story unexpectedly took off in another direction I liked far more and I ended up abandoning the outline. I felt like I had really wasted a lot of time outlining the book that could’ve instead been spent writing, so I never outlined again. Now I usually have the beginning, middle and end in mind when I sit down to start a new novel and let the rest come as it may.

AL: It’s time to get personal! The Oscars have come and gone – What’s the best movie you've seen recently?

Dianne: Hmmm. I haven’t been terribly thrilled with the movies that have been released in recent years. For drama, I really liked Inception with all of its intricate plotting. That one took a lot of thought to write. I found The Crazies to be a good horror film, also well-written with good directing, acting and scoring. Salt was a surprisingly good action film. Unstoppable was, too. You don’t see many action films today that aren’t green-screened to death, so Unstoppable was a proverbial breath of fresh air. And for romance, I’ve been enjoying the Twilight series.

AL: Sometimes people envision an author’s life as being really glamorous. I like to set them straight, so tell us what’s the most unglamorous thing you’ve done in the past week?

Dianne: Clean the bathrooms. I actually wondered as I did so if seeing their favorite authors scrubbing toilets would be a bit of a let-down for readers. :-)

AL: If you could have any car in the world; would it be a slow rider, or one that the wind has to hurry just to keep up with you?

Dianne: I would definitely want one the wind had to chase. I freely admit to having a lead foot. :-)

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Dianne: My greatest plans revolve around the release of Night Reigns on December 6th this year. I’ll be planning a big Blog Tour with lots of contests and giveaways to celebrate and promote it. I’m also going to be participating in the Brenda Novak Annual Diabetes Auction in May and hope you’re followers will drop by bid on items. Some other events I’ll be taking part in are the Bookish Haven Summer Vacation and the Sizzling Summer Reads Party at The Romance Reviews.

As for next year and beyond, I intend to continue my Immortal Guardians series and see what develops as the immortals endeavor to discover the truth behind their existence, encounter new beings as powerful as they are themselves and face increasingly complex challenges spawned by an escalating number of formidable foes.

AL: What do you find sexy in a man?

Dianne: Intelligence. Respect for my own intelligence is a close second. That’s one of the things I like about Roland, the hero of Darkness Dawns. While he’s an attractive, intelligent alpha male, he admires Sarah’s intelligence, not just her beauty, and lets her make her own decisions rather than ordering her around and taking those choices away from her in his attempts to protect her.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Dianne: “Beautiful, brave and possessed of violent tendencies. I like her.” ~ Marcus, friend to Roland in Darkness Dawns

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Dianne.

Dianne: Thank you for the opportunity and for the great interview. I enjoyed it.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Dianne please visit:

Website: http://www.DianneDuvall.com
Blog - The Immortal Realm: http://dianneduvall.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000816605112
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DianneDuvall

FEATURED TITLE: DARKNESS DAWNS

Blurb:

Once, Sarah Bingham’s biggest challenge was making her students pay attention in class. Now, after rescuing a wounded stranger, she’s landed in the middle of a battle between corrupt vampires and powerful immortals who also need blood to survive. Roland Warbrook is the most compelling man Sarah has ever laid hands on. But his desire for her is mingled with a hunger he can barely control . . .

In his nine centuries of immortal existence, no woman has tempted Roland as much as Sarah. But asking her to love him is impossible -- when it mean forfeiting the world she’s always known, and the life he would do anything to protect.

Excerpt:

Roland awoke as the sun was setting, his body wracked with pain. It took several minutes of intense concentration before he was able to distance himself from it enough to open his eyes and take in his surroundings.

The television was on, tuned to a news channel, the volume low.

He was lying on his back on the futon, his left leg bent at the knee and resting against the cushioned back. His right leg was stretched out with his foot hanging off the end. What utterly astonished him and nearly made him forget the pain, however, was Sarah, who was sprawled atop him, peacefully ensconced in slumber.

Her cheek was pillowed by his chest. Emitting a pleasant citrus scent, her hair again clung to his stubbled jaw and fell across his shoulder in curly disarray. One of her small hands loosely clutched his shoulder. The other was tucked into his side. Her full breasts warmed his stomach. Her hips rested against his groin, arousing him despite his discomfort.

Damn, but it felt good.

Giving in to temptation, he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her silky hair.

She stirred, her hand tightening on his shoulder as she snuggled closer, then fell still.

He hadn’t slept with a woman in the literal sense in over nine centuries, refusing to let down his guard enough to experience such intimacy as this. Not even with Mary, who had feigned such devotion. He had obeyed the proprieties when he had courted Mary and, fearing her reaction when she found out what he was, had never left himself so vulnerable.

But Sarah didn’t know what he was and he had no intention of telling her. He didn’t want to see the same loathing in her eyes that had darkened Beatrice’s or the fear that had widened Mary’s.

To Sarah, he was just a man.

His body hardened even more when he remembered the way her heartbeat had sped up at his touch.

Her pulse was slow and steady now, the blood in her veins calling him to come and satiate his hunger. As he listened to the steady thrum of it, his own heart began to pound.

Roland slid one hand up her back, tunneling through soft, thick curls, and rested his fingers upon the satiny skin of her neck just over her pulse.

What would she taste like? Sweet like her smiles? Or spicy like her daring spirit?

Would drinking from her merely dull the pain? Or would it set him aflame?

His body was struggling to heal itself. The need for blood clawed at him.

Roland felt his fangs descend and lengthen.

Just one taste. Sarah is sleeping. She need never know.

REMEMBER: Dianne will give away a signed copy of Darkness Dawns to one commenter. International commenters are fine too. She'll be using www.random.org to choose the winner at the end of my week. To get in on the contest just answer this simple question in comments: If you could possess any special gift or ability (telepathy, teleportation, healing with your hands, etc.), which one would you want? Good luck!